World’s favorite basketball team comes to Springfield

Wednesday

Jan 1, 2014 at 10:00 PMJan 2, 2014 at 1:22 AM

By Dru WillisCorrespondent

It is a dream job to be a Harlem Globetrotter for Brawley “Cheese” Chisholm, especially since it goes beyond the basketball court to being an encouraging role model working with kids and doing community service.

“That’s what the Harlem Globetrotters pride themselves behind, just being the ultimate player. That’s what we do,” Chisholm said during a recent telephone interview.

The Harlem Globetrotters, the Clown Princes of Basketball, make their annual visit to Springfield tonight against the Washington Generals at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

Fans who attend tonight’s game will get to decide game-changing rules the teams must abide by.

Chisholm, a 6-foot-2 guard, grew up in the Bronx in New York City. There, he discovered basketball and honed his skills on the courts available on many street corners in the Big Apple.

Being a New Yorker also made him independent.

“That’s a New York thing. Being from New York I am also a very straightforward person. It made me a real honest person,” said Chisholm, 27, who now lives in New Jersey.

Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., took him far away from the hustle and bustle of New York. Chisholm graduated with a degree in communications and then joined the Globetrotters family four years ago.

The Globetrotters formed in 1926 and each member who dons the familiar red, white and blue uniform works to uphold the professionalism necessary to be great showmen and women, entertainers, and athletes. Chisholm says that’s a professionalism he enjoys.

“As much as people know us for being great athletes, they also know us for being great people. That’s why we go to these children’s hospitals and we go to these schools ... that’s why people love the Harlem Globetrotters,” Chisholm said.

Not like any other work

Playing basketball for the Globetrotters offers challenges not found in many jobs.

For one, it means spanning to globe to play basketball on almost every continent. While the fans are almost always on the Globetrotters’ side – the players’ good humor and classic jokes win them over – the team never truly has a “home” game.

It is a life lived on the road when you join the Globetrotters and the key to Chisholm’s fitness is good sleep and eating well on top of taking vitamins to stay healthy while traveling.

The biggest surprise about being on the team for Chisholm is actually realizing he has been a Globetrotter for four years now.

“Everybody can’t just be one because of the tour schedule we have and what it takes to do the stuff we do off the court. Sometimes it’s too much for people. They can’t uphold just the structure or just even the model of the Globetrotters and what they want,” he explained. “So the fact that I have been here four years says a lot.”

In these four years he has also learned how much of an impact he can have on people, especially children.

“I never thought that I would be a role model for people. Of course, I have a little brother and sister but as far as the general public ... being a role model for kids ... knowing that I can’t mess up, that I have to keep being a positive figure, means a lot to me,” Chisholm said.

There is a balance required to pull it off.

“I have to be fun and serious at the same time. So I won’t be taken as a joke and I can’t be so serious where I am taken as boring. So I have to keep it at least balanced,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm said he always has had natural ability to balance between these two characteristics.

“They gave me my nickname ‘Cheese’ because I smile all the time, but I am just a crowd favorite as far as engaging with the crowd and knowing what to do. You can’t teach somebody that kind of improv. Sometimes people are gifted, gifted with certain things,” he said.

There is always life after basketball and Chisholm feels athletes should always be prepared for this because you can only run and jump for so long.

“I think I might want to get into coaching. My (communications) major will definitely help me with some public speaking. I’ll figure it out,” he said. “And I am learning a lot of life lessons and experiences being a Globetrotter, and I get to meet so many people. I think I will be ready when the time comes.”

Some of these lessons include learning about the surroundings everywhere he goes.

“I think I found myself, more, traveling. I’m not the person I was four years ago leaving from college. I just see the whole world out there and I just try to learn more about it,” Chisholm said.